


Company of Wolves

by umisabaku



Series: The Great Tumblr Migration [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:34:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27311248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umisabaku/pseuds/umisabaku
Summary: The worst part about coming back to Japan was the werewolves.--The Generation of Miracles is a famous werewolf pack that broke apart, attended different high schools, and met different kinds of shapeshifters.
Relationships: Akashi Seijuurou/Furihata Kouki, Himuro Tatsuya/Murasakibara Atsushi, Kagami Taiga/Kuroko Tetsuya, Kasamatsu Yukio/Kise Ryouta, Midorima Shintarou/Takao Kazunari
Series: The Great Tumblr Migration [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1993987
Comments: 45
Kudos: 321





	1. Kagami and Kuroko

**Author's Note:**

> This is a series of tumblr prompts all in the same universe of shapeshifters. It started when a couple people prompted "wolves" and the word "company" and spiraled from there. It's not exactly finished? But not exactly unfinished? I will update each pairing's chapter with new shorts from tumblr if there are more.
> 
> I always held off on posting because I wasn't sure the best way to go about it, since it's not linear, but I've settled on putting two vertical "**" to separate what was a new tumblr short.

The worst part about coming back to Japan was the werewolves.

(It didn’t even make _sense,_ Kagami had vocally complained to all his friends back in America. Actual wolves had been extinct in Japan for years, why were there so many werewolves? No one had an answer to his complaints. They weren’t particularly sympathetic either. “Werewolves are very nice,” his father had said, “Some of my best friends are werewolves.”)

And Kagami’s not racist, OK? He has no problems with other species in general. But _wolves._ Wolves were like dogs only _even more terrifying._

He can usually sniff out a fellow shifter from a mile away, (literally, his nose is very good) and that’s why Kuroko comes as such a surprise. He would have put money on the guy as an ordinary human (and not even a strong one, at that) until the boy shifts and a small, grey wolf is there, looking up at him with Kuroko’s pale blue eyes.

“AHH,” he flails. “You’re a _wolf?_ What the hell, man?”

The wolf tilts his head. _Kagami-kun didn’t know?_ He asks in the telepathic speak between shifters.

“How was I supposed to know?” And he’s edging away, trying not to look at him, “You don’t look or smell like a wolf or anything!”

_I am very good at masking my presence. Kagami-kun, are you… scared of me?_

“I’m not scared of _you_ , I’m just, not good with dogs, OK?”

Kuroko’s wet nose presses against Kagami’s hand, causing him to jump. Kuroko looks up at him with such forlorn eyes. “Don’t look at me like that!”

Kuroko hangs his head. _I apologize, Kagami-kun. I will shift back._

Kagami scratches the back of his head and then sighs. “No, it’s fine, I’ll just join you. It’s easier to deal with when I’m not human.”

His tiger form wasn’t afraid of dogs, and his human form is definitely not afraid of _Kuroko._

They’re… just going to have to work on the rest later.

*

*

“I’m not sure I like the company you’ve been keeping these days, Tetsuya.”

Kuroko remains very still under Akashi’s watchful gaze. He doesn’t respond, not right away. He keeps his head low and doesn’t meet Akashi’s bicolored eyes. Akashi is an Alpha, and Alphas do not like it when you look at them. They see it as a challenge.

“I am not sure what you mean, Akashi-kun,” Kuroko says. And it isn’t a lie—that’s important. You don’t lie to werewolves, they can hear your heartbeat. And you especially do not lie to Alphas. Kuroko has a pretty good idea what Akashi means, but he’s not _sure._ That’s key in keeping to the truth.

“Do not be foolish, Tetsuya. You know exactly what I mean. You have been _associating_ with that tiger for awhile now.”

It is a heavy word when Akashi says it— _associating_. It somehow sounds more scandalous than if Akashi had said something more provocative. There are a lot of things that can fall under the umbrella of a word like _associating._ It is the same thing with the word _company._

“Kagami-kun is a classmate and a fellow club member,” Kuroko replies neutrally. “Why should I not associate with him?”

Akashi shifts his weight ever so slightly. It is not something someone would notice; not unless they knew Akashi very well, not unless they had years of observing his behavior. Akashi has never been the kind of person who reveals outward agitation.

“They are not like us,” Akashi says. “Cats. Their nature is not like ours.”

Kuroko swallows, feeling some lump in his throat that cannot be dislodged. “I have never agreed with Akashi-kun’s separatist policies. I do not see the harm in associating with other shifters.”

It was not just the cat thing. Ogiwara had been a Shibu Inu shifter and Akashi had made sure he would never talk to Kuroko again.

“Associating,” Akashi says the word again, like it has some other meaning. “No, Tetsuya, I suppose not. Do you really not understand? Wolves mate for life.”

_And tigers don’t,_ remains unsaid. _Neither do dogs._

What can he say to that? We are not actually wolves or tigers or any kind of beast. We are human, we love where we love.

But it would be wrong. They are not human. Werewolves mate for life. Weretigers do not.

“That is not a consideration,” Kuroko says. But his heart speeds faster; he can feel the lie beat rapidly against his chest even as Akashi hears it.

Akashi shakes his head. There are many things he could say, but it would be of no use and they both know it. Akashi is an Alpha amongst Alphas, he takes his Pack very seriously. And even though they go to different schools and play on different teams, they are still Pack. Akashi will do everything he can to protect Kuroko, but even he will have difficulty preventing a broken heart with claw and fang.

“Be careful about the company you keep, Tetsuya,” Akashi says again.

*

*

_Be careful about the company you keep._ Akashi’s words float through Kuroko’s mind unbidden throughout the day. 

When he and Kagami play basketball, the words come back. When he and Kagami walk together after school, the words hover in the air. When he and Kagami eat dinner together at Maji Burger, randomly Kuroko will remember _Be careful about the company you keep_ like it’s a curse that Akashi has placed upon him.

“I can’t believe you eat so little,” Kagami chides, “Do all wolves eat like you?”

Kagami eats like he’s brought down an elk and is determined to devour the whole thing on his own. “No,” Kuroko replies. “I am not a very strong wolf, so I do not need to eat as much. Alphas need to consume much more than I do.”

“Alphas, huh?” Kagami says. “That hierarchal pack stuff is so weird to me. Is it something you’re born with? Can you ever become an Alpha?”

_Be careful about the company you keep._ Kuroko should not be sitting here, talking to this man about what it’s like to be a wolf. “Only the strongest are Alphas. It is not unheard of for a Beta wolf to challenge the Alpha and win the right to lead, but it is not common. I am not the kind of wolf who could challenge anyone.”

Kagami snorts. “No kidding.”

Kuroko can’t challenge Akashi, it is not in his nature. If Akashi had flat out forbidden him, _Do not talk to the tiger,_ would Kuroko have listened? But he would have had to, wouldn’t he? Wolves do not disobey obey their Alphas. “Is it not the same for tigers? Don’t you have to obey your leaders?”

“Hell no,” Kagami says. “Tigers don’t have leaders. That’s stuff for wolves and lions I guess.” He shrugs. “Once we’re grown up we don’t really have much to do with one another. I haven’t even really spoken to my parents in awhile.”

The thought makes Kuroko put down his milk shake as his stomach churns. He can’t even imagine what it would be like to be without a Pack. This is just a reminder that he and Kagami are too different. “That seems lonely.”

Kagami just shrugs again. “Not really. Cats don’t really need each other’s company.”

Kuroko has seen that, in real life. A mother cat will eventually hiss at her own kittens once they get old enough. Cats don’t like each other. This depresses Kuroko even further.

“Kind of a good thing for me, don’t you think?” Kagami adds, “Since there aren’t that many other Cat shifters in Japan. I’m getting used to the company of wolves.”

He’s not looking at Kuroko when he says this. Kagami might be blushing slightly, but it’s hard to tell as he shoves another cheeseburger in his mouth.

Kuroko picks up his milkshake again. He is most definitely not blushing either.

*

*

“Isn’t it a little weird that you have a dog? I mean, given…” Kagami lets it dangle.

“Not really,” Kuroko says reproachfully as he pats Nigou on the back. “We are not animals, Kagami-kun.”

He knows that. And he knows a lot of shifters who have pets. It’s just _weird._ When Kuroko is in his wolf form, he really does look a lot like Nigou.

Kagami can’t believe this is his life—there’s a werewolf _and_ a dog in his apartment. Himuro will never let him hear the end of it, if he finds out.

Kuroko spends a lot of time in his apartment, in fact. Even when he’s not there, Kagami can smell his scent on his furniture, on the walls. Kagami shouldn’t like it, but he does. Having another shifter’s scent in his territory should set him on edge, make him challenge the interloper. Instead, Kagami wonders if he can convince Kuroko to take a nap in his bed sometime, so Kagami can have his scent on his sheets. (Yes, he does feel like a gigantic pervert when he has that thought. He still wants it, though. A lot.)

Kagami cooks for Kuroko and he thinks about how that’s something shifters do when they’re courting. Feed each other. (At least, cats do that. He’s not sure what wolves do, but it seems like similar enough principle. Kagami is trying to prove that he would be a good provider. Key thing in any mate.) He’s cooked for the Seirin team though, so he hasn’t made it clear that he has different intentions here.

“Thank you, Kagami-kun,” Kuroko says, taking Kagami’s dinner plate. “Perhaps I can cook for you as well, some time.”

“You can boil an egg like no one else, yeah?” Kagami jokes, ignoring how his skin heats up at the thought of Kuroko in his kitchen.

Kuroko nods. “I can make an egg sandwich.”

He clears his throat. “I’d like that.”

_You’re in over your head, Taiga_ , he thinks. He has no idea what he’s doing, getting involved with a werewolf. (But _Kuroko_ , though. That’s a whole other story.)

*

*

“A tiger, huh? That’s a hard one, Kurokocchi, are you sure about this?” Kise swings his legs back and forth, creating the atmosphere of nonchalance, as if the subject didn’t really matter.

Kuroko smothers his own internal irritation. “I have already discussed this with Akashi-kun. Kise-kun does not need to concern himself as well.” Kuroko does not say, _You are not pack leader,_ but the words are there nonetheless.

“Don’t be like that, Kurokocchi,” Kise says softly. “I worry, you know? The pack splitting apart like this—it’s confusing, right? Surely you think that, too. Seirin being—what it is.”

This irritates Kuroko even more than Kise’s not-so-subtle interrogations about Kagami. He knows what the other schools think about Seirin—with it’s strange mixture of humans and all kinds of shifters, people say there’s no way they could ever function as a cohesive group.

But they _do_ work. The basketball they play _proves_ they work. It doesn’t matter who is human and who isn’t. It doesn’t matter who is wolf and who is tiger. Seirin makes Kuroko question everything Teiko taught him about what _pack_ should be. There are bonds that transcend species.   
“We were all wolves in the Teiko Pack,” Kuroko returns, “And we did not work because there were too many Alphas. I believe the things that make a pack function are not defined by what we shift into.”

Kise snorts. He had purposefully gone to a school predominately inhabited by other wolves. This is not a subject they are likely to agree on anytime soon.

“Maybe that works short term, Kurokocchi. But there will always be things only other wolves could understand. Are you really going to tell me that bird shifters can understand what it means to be pack? And the humans—you think _they_ know what it’s like to be a shifter? Do you think your tiger can understand what it means to be mated for life? You’re just setting yourself up for a world of hurt, Kurokocchi. You should have to come to Kaijo.”

Kuroko doesn’t respond to that. He’s not sure he _can._ He thinks if he tries to speak now, he might say something regrettable. And it is not in his nature to defy an Alpha wolf, anyway. (Another reason, perhaps, why it is comfortable in Seirin. Maybe pack hierarchies really don’t matter.)

“I’m _worried_ , OK?” Kise bursts out, startling Kuroko. “I’m worried about all of you. Midorimacchi in his human school, Murasakibaracchi with the bears in Yosen. You don’t know what it’s like to be without a pack. You’re making a mistake.”

“Maybe,” Kuroko replies, finally feeling a twinge of pity. Kise had only joined their pack in his second year—his first pack ever. It made sense that he would have difficulties letting that go. “But it is my mistake to make.”

*

*

Kuroko knows his wolf is not a dominate one. His instinctive reaction around stronger, predatory animals is always to keep his head down low. In front of other wolves, he would roll on his back, baring his neck in submission. In front of other large predatory animals, his wolf depends on pack to keep him safe. That’s what wolves do when faced with animals they can’t take down on their own. That is what pack is for.

His wolf didn’t know what to do with Kagami, not at first. Kagami in his tiger form is a very intimidating presence. Kagami’s tiger is a monstrous sized beast, larger than tigers come naturally. The first time Kuroko sees Kagami in his tiger form, Kuroko wanted to tuck his tail between his legs and whine.

But the more they are around each other, the less Kagami seems dangerous, and the more he smells like pack.

Now, his wolf feels calm in the tiger’s presence. _Too_ calm, some might say. Kuroko has never felt safer than he does with this tiger in his pack. He curls up against the tiger’s warm back and falls asleep, knowing that that there’s nothing they couldn’t take down, together, like a proper pack would.

Sometimes, Kuroko studies over at Kagami’s apartment, and Kagami falls asleep in his tiger form. Kuroko feels like, as a human, he should be wary in the presence of a dangerous beast, but instead he wishes he was bold enough to run his hand through Kagami’s fur. (You don’t _pet_ other shifters, though. That was just standard etiquette.)

“Kagami-kun should not be napping right now,” he says instead, holding his hands firmly on his text book. “We need to study, or Kagami-kun will not be able to play in official games.”

Kagami puts his head on Kuroko’s lap and stares at Kuroko with big, sad kitten eyes.

_This isn’t fighting fair,_ Kuroko thinks. “No, Kagami-kun, I will not do your homework for you.”

The tiger nuzzles his thigh and doesn’t move. The weight pins Kuroko down, so he can’t move either.

Slowly, he reaches down and pets Kagami’s ears. Kagami makes a rumbling sound and Kuroko pulls his hand away. Kagami falls silent. Kuroko tentatively pets Kagami’s head and Kagami begins to make that same sound again.

Kuroko gives up on studying for the rest of the day.

*

*

Kagami thinks that since coming to Japan he’s got a pretty good handle on his cynophobia. Nigou has provided daily immunization treatment, and knowing that Kuroko is a wolf has certainly eased some of his natural wariness. He has grown so accustomed to Kuroko in his wolf form, in fact, that he doesn’t even bat an eye when he sees as a canine.

But all of that did nothing towards preparing him for the entire Generation of Miracles (plus Kuroko, plus Momoi) in their wolf forms.

*

It is a bit like walking in on his worst nightmare. Kagami even does a surreptitious check to make sure his clothes are still on, because usually he is naked in his nightmares. But no, he is fully clothed, and this is actually happening.

Kuroko pads to him automatically and whines reassuringly at Kagami.

_You are once again intruding where you do not belong,_ is the sudden telepathic message. And it’s coming from the red-eyed wolf who is looking at Kagami like he is seconds away from ripping out his throat.

Kagami has never seen any of the Miracles in their wolf form besides Kuroko, but he has no trouble figuring out who is who. The red-eyed white wolf that is smaller than some of the others but is still somehow the most threatening is clearly Akashi. (And how _strange._ Albinos are usually rejected in nature. Kagami can’t tell if it’s absurd that Akashi is clearly the biggest wolf alpha in the room when his other form is an outlier or if it actually makes a lot of bizarre sense.)

The monstrous-sized, lanky dark brown wolf must be Murasakibara. He’s lying on the ground and doesn’t twitch at Kagami’s approach. The blue-eyed ebony wolf that’s currently snarling at Kagami can’t be anyone other than Aomine, with the easy process of elimination that the small, grey, and only female, wolf at his side must be Momoi.

Kagami didn’t know that wolves could come in blonde, but the golden creature must be Kise, leaving the very large, very disdainful silver wolf to be Midorima.

He knows who they are; he’s played against all of them, he even grudgingly respects them; but his reaction isn’t rational. They are large, threatening predators, and it takes every ounce of Kagami’s control not to shift into a tiger, right then and there, and attack.

Kuroko steps on his foot, leaning the weight of his body against Kagami’s side.

_You should not be here,_ the white wolf says, standing up. Akashi’s ears are pricked forward, and he’s very still. He’s not quite threatening yet, but he has that calm stillness of a predator poised for danger. Kagami’s skin ripples, stripes appearing on his skin, and he fights to maintain control. The worst thing in this moment would be to shift. If he shifts, he will fight, and it will very likely be a bloodbath.

_It is alright Kagami-kun,_ Kuroko says. _We are just having a talk._

Kagami swallows, the lump in his throat incredibly painful. He once burst in on a similar meeting and almost got stabbed by a pair of scissors and he still laughs at the memory.

He walks away now, his skin growing cold and his throat still tight with pain. He doesn’t look back.

It’s like he didn’t really understand, until this moment, what exactly it meant that Kuroko was a wolf and he was not.

*

*

“We are strong because we are a pack,” Akashi said. “We are strong because we are wolves.”

What is victory? Kuroko had thought. What is a pack?

Real wolves, in a real pack, worked together. They were not this disjointed thing that emphasized individual strengths.

In Teiko, they were comrades, but not a team.

And if that is what it meant to be a pack, then a pack was a very lonely thing.

*

Watching Seirin play had been his first thought of what a team should be. He had only seen them for a few moments, and he was too far away to smell them, so he had no way of knowing if they were shifters or humans, and if they were shifters, what kind of shifters they were.

All he could see was that they worked together, and he thought, _Ah, that is what a pack should be like._

*

Meeting Seirin had been—an experience. He’s not quite sure how to explain it. He’s not sure what the right word is. He feels like _surprise_ isn’t quite right.

It’s _odd_ (is that the right word?) to see Koganei the housecat shifter side by side with Mitobe the komodo dragon shifter and Tsuchida the human. It is _perplexing_ (that feels like it could be the right description…) that everyone listens so easily to a wildcat shifter Aida Riko when her kind are not typically known for their ability to work well with others.

It is _different_ to have Izuki the eagle shifter there at all, because as far as Kuroko had been aware, bird shifters never left avian communities.

And the First Year shifters too—Kagami the tiger, more powerful than all of them here, working long side Furihata (and Kuroko himself) who are very beta wolves. And it almost seems _unnatural_ that Fukuda, the Shiba Inu and Kawahara the capuchin monkey could round out their crowd as if there was nothing unusual at all about that group.

It is downright _baffling_ that they all follow Hyuuga as their captain, when everything Teiko had led Kuroko to believe suggested that there was no way a human could pull a group together under his command.

And afterwards, when Kiyoshi returns, it makes even _less sense._ As a bear shifter, he’s the strongest out of all of them, but he never takes the lead (And that goes against every one of Teiko’s governing principles. Everything feels _upside down_. (Kuroko mulls over the phrase and decides no, this isn’t what he’s trying to explain either.)

They shouldn’t work.

And yet _they do._

That is the strangest thing out of all of this. They all have exceptionally little in common, and _yet they work._

Perhaps… perhaps the word Kuroko is searching for is _revelation._

Meeting Seirin is a revelation.

*

*

It was not uncommon for mammalian shifters to be incredibly tactile, especially in their own pack. It was not something Kuroko had experienced much in Teiko, and it is a little off-putting the way Kagami so easily slings his arms around people, or pats them on the back, or occasionally drapes himself over others. (And by “people” Kuroko means himself. It’s strange that Kagami keeps touching him. Strange, but not objectionable.)

Kuroko isn’t fully aware of how bad it is until he comes home one day and his mother wrinkles her nose and says, “Tetsuya, is there something you want to tell me?”

He stares at her blankly, uncomprehending, until she clarifies, “You smell like cat. What is that—lion?”

It was one of those moments where he felt very glad that he took after his father, and didn’t blush easily. “Tiger, I imagine. We have a tiger shifter on the team. He is very friendly.”

The looks his mother gave him was extraordinarily skeptical.

“I am sure it does not mean the same thing. To tigers.” He doesn’t sound particularly convincing when he says that.

“Hmm,” his mother says, and Kuroko flees to his room.

*

Furihata, thankfully, is the only other wolf on the Seirin team, and he at least doesn’t mention it until they’re alone together.

“You know, Kuroko, you, uh, smell an awful lot like Kagami these days.”

“Kagami-kun is very open with the team,” Kuroko says, although the line doesn’t work any better than it did on his mother; especially since Furihata knows full well the other members on the team don’t smell so much like tiger.

So Kuroko tries again with, “I am sure that it does not mean the same thing to tigers as it does to wolves.”

Furihata raises his brows and says, “You don’t know a lot about cats, do you?”

*

*

“How exactly are you so cold? You’re a shifter!” Kagami exclaims.

He is not, mind you, protesting the way Kuroko is pressed up against his body for warmth. When the smaller boy had first huddled against him, Kagami had assumed this was just a ploy to get closer to him and had been appropriately thrilled by the prospect. Shifters, particularly mammalian shifters, had higher than normal body temperature after all. It was highly unbelievable that any shifter would cuddle up to someone else “for warmth.”

But then Kuroko’s cold hands had managed to find their way against the flat of Kuroko’s back as Kuroko made gleeful use of Kagami’s body like he was a space heater, causing Kagami to jump practically three feet in the air like someone had just dumped ice down his back. (Which, he supposes, in a way someone had.)

“My body temperature has always been low,” Kuroko confesses. “I suppose because I am not an alpha.”

“That has nothing to do with body temperature!” Kagami sputters. “That’s not how biology works!”

Kuroko presses in closer and Kagami lets him. Kuroko has a very suspicious smirk on his face. “That is a very firm claim from someone who did not know what happens to starfish when you cut them in half.”

“That has nothing to do with anything!”

The longer Kuroko’s hands remain against Kagami’s back the warmer they get. It’s no longer uncomfortable like it was at first, and Kagami feels that if Kuroko really _did_ need the warmth, he could hardly object to providing it.

(Not that he was really objecting much to having Kuroko so close to him anyway.)

“It’s probably just because you don’t eat enough,” Kagami says as he wraps his arms around Kuroko, letting him inside his large winter jacket, all under the innocuous disguise of “keeping a friend warm” that he sure is fooling no one. “If you ate more, I bet you wouldn’t get so cold.”

“Yes, Kagami-kun. I am sure that is how biology works,” says Kuroko’s muffled voice into Kagami’s chest.

“Oi!”

Kuroko burrows further into Kagami’s coat. “Perhaps Kagami-kun is right. You are very warm, and you eat a lot. There could be a connection.”

“Of course I’m right,” Kagami says. “Tell you what, I’ll keep you warm in winter, but when it’s summer I expect you to keep me cool.”

“That is a fair exchange,” is Kuroko’s muffled reply.


	2. Murasakibara and Himuro

“What do you mean that guy wasn’t a bear?” Kagami exclaims. “He was huge!”

“And Murasakibara-kun is the largest wolf I have ever seen,” Kuroko replies, in that calm, impenetrable way of his.

“But I thought—Yosen is a bear school, yeah? That’s why Tatsuya—” Kagami trails off, because it still hurts, the way Himuro so easily said, “I wanted to be with my own kind for once,” like their friendship didn’t matter, like they couldn’t be brothers just because Kagami wasn’t a bear.

“As I understand it, many bear shifters prefer to attend Yosen,” Kuroko acknowledges. “I understand they prefer the weather. I am not sure what the appeal was for Murasakibara-kun.”

Kagami swallows, still trying to process the information. He should know better than to stereotype a shifter’s human form by their animal form—he knows it’s not just politically incorrect to do so but just plain inaccurate. (Perfect example: Kuroko. No one would look at that guy and think, “I bet he’s a predatory shifter.” They would probably assume he was something cute and cuddly, and then they’d take an Ignite Pass Kai to the face for the misunderstanding.)

And Kagami feels mildly ashamed for making the assumption about Murasakibara because wasn’t that the problem Himuro had faced everyday in L.A.? “You’re not tall enough to be a bear,” “You’re not strong enough,” “You’re not bear enough.”

“It is a common mistake. Everyone always assumes Murasakibara-kun is a bear shifter,” Kuroko offers, correctly interpreting Kagami’s silence as shame but misunderstanding the reason why.

Kagami just shrugs. “I know by now not to judge a wolf by his cover.” He nudges Kuroko to make his point clear. But Kuroko just looks at him with those pale eyes of his, like he can see right through Kagami’s bluster.

“There was more to that story, wasn’t there?” Kuroko guesses. “It was not just about who was better at basketball.”

Kagami looks down. “It wasn’t _just_ about that. I think—Tatsuya is a black bear, you know? And bears are typically strong but not very fast, not suited to most sports. And bears, I don’t know. They’re not exactly _predatory,_ if you know what I mean. They defend when attacked, but they don’t hunt the same way—” _tigers do,_ he doesn’t finish.

Kagami pauses, remembering some of the things Himuro had said before he moved. He struggles with the rest of it, Kuroko remaining patiently silent the entire time. “I think it just got to him, after awhile. That our natures would always be fundamentally different. And that my nature gave me advantages in basketball.”

Kuroko doesn’t say anything. Kagami knows without asking that the other boy is thinking about their _own_ fundamentally different natures. He’s thinking about all the ways that makes them incompatible.

Kagami doesn’t know how to deal with that. Losing Himuro as a brother was bad enough. Losing Kuroko—and whatever it is they are to each other— all because they didn’t shift into the same creature, it would just be—

“Perhaps Himuro-san has changed his mind,” Kuroko offers. “He and Murasakibara-kun seemed…close.”

“Oh,” Kagami says, “Yeah. That’s right. Maybe.”

“I have hope, Kagami-kun. I am sure it will work out.”

“Yeah,” Kagami says slowly, not sure which relationship Kuroko is referring to—Kagami and Himuro, Himuro and Murasakibara, or Kagami and Kuroko. But it doesn’t really matter. “Yeah, me too.”


	3. Midorima and Takao

Until Kuroko came to Seirin, Kuroko had never met a bird shifter and he now realizes that they are very strange. Izuki’s love of puns might have been an aberrant character train exclusive to him, but upon meeting Takao, who laughs in the face of every absurdity (i.e., Midorima) Kuroko must conclude that he will never understand a bird shifter’s sense of humor.

Kuroko doesn’t expect to get to know Takao better; they go to different schools, they’re different kinds of shifters, they’re very unlikely to ever interact except in games, but during the training session where Seirin and Shutoku ended up in the same place, Kuroko unexpectedly ended up conversing with the hawk shifter.

“ _Man,_ mammals are intense,” Takao says, after Midorima and Kagami’s strange one-upmanship and Kuroko and Takao’s subsequent hiding in the bushes. Kuroko doesn’t expect Takao to come back after he left with Midorima, and is somewhat surprised to find himself alone with Takao again. Although at least they’re not in the bushes this time.

“Takao-kun is a mammal,” Kuroko points out. “You _are_ human.”

“Yeah, but not really,” Takao says, like that explains everything.

Kuroko hesitates before his next question, since it is awfully nosy, but he _has_ been wondering ever since the Shutoku game. “I thought Shutoku was primarily a human school,” he ventures finally.

Takao, perhaps predictably, only laughs. “I know, right? That was one of the reasons I went there. And then there was Shin-chan, against all odds. It’s kinda funny, don’t you think?”

Kuroko is not sure why that would be funny, but does not say so.

“Is it always like that with land animals? Shin-chan and Kagami’s snarling and biting at each other.”

“It is primarily an event that occurs with dominant shifters,” Kuroko explains tentatively, “Wolves call them alphas. I am not sure what tigers call them. Do hawks not have a similar system?”

“Hell, no,” Takao says. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’ll fight to protect our nests and our families, but, I don’t know, we don’t have that instant, ‘Rawr’ thing going on.” He makes a clawing gesture with his hands and a mock snarl, then laughs at his own efforts.

“It is not something I have ever understood myself,” Kuroko says, keeping his voice polite.

Takao sobers. “There sure are a lot of differences between birds and mammals.”

There is a tone—a sort of part longing, part frustration sound that strikes a very familiar chord in Kuroko’s heart. Lightly, he says, “It is not always easy between mammals either.”

Takao tilts his head but he doesn’t pry. Instead, he just snorts and says, “Yeah. It never seems to be easy, does it?”

Kuroko waits a beat, then two, and finally can’t resist asking, “Has Takao-kun ever watched the old American film _Ladyhawke?”_

“Shut up, Kuroko,” is Takao’s response, proving that yes, he has.

*

*

Takao chose Shutoku because it was a primarily human school.

He really couldn’t have foreseen Midorima.

*

The thing is—no one likes to admit it, but the prejudice was _there._ A long time ago, bird shifters and land shifters really didn’t get a long, and sometimes the old rivalry and resentment still lingered.

“Birds can’t play sports,” was a common theme sneered at Takao in his middle school years. “Even humans are better at basketball than a fucking bird.”

And it didn’t really help that the Generation of Miracles were all _wolves_ —as if proving that if you weren’t a land predator, you had no business playing a team sport.

*

So even though he knew people were going to think he chose a human school because he couldn’t “make it” in a shifter school (and _let_ them think that, Takao thought. Only an idiot would scoff at Shutoku just because it wasn’t heavily populated by shifters) he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, he was really fed up with the superior attitude of mammal shifters—not to mention their constant dominant alpha drama bullshit—and he was really looking forward to spending his high school years without dealing with the high pressure machismo of land predators.

*

And then there was Midorima.

Which was just unfair, really. Fate could be a real bitch sometimes.

*

But the thing about Midorima—he’s not anything like what Takao expects. Yes, the territorial wolf stereotype is definitely true; yes, the alpha behavior bullshit is still there (especially around Kagami, and the other Teiko wolves) but he wasn’t an asshole about it.

Takao had this picture in his head that mammal shifters – especially dominate ones—thought they were better than everyone else. They tended to have this “law of the jungle” mentality where just because they were physically stronger than everyone else meant they could do whatever they wanted. And Takao had also been convinced than an alpha shifter—particularly an incredibly strong alpha shifter—would never obey a human captain and coach.

But Midorima listened to the Second and Third Years—he occasionally made selfish requests, but obeyed the limit of three a day. He deferred to the coach and captain and above all, he was actually a hard worker.

Takao didn’t think prodigies _needed_ to work hard. Midorima was a bit of contradiction.

*

“Why did you come here?” he asks one day. He’s been dying to ask forever, but before he’d vowed not to give Midorima the satisfaction of his curiosity, and then later is just never seemed like the right time to ask.

“It appealed to me,” Midorima replies, in that stiff way of speaking. He points to the Shutoku banner where the motto “Persistent and Tireless” is proudly displayed. “I was tired of working with people who would not put in the effort.”

The only reason this sticks out is because it goes against everything Takao has come to expect about wolves; and really that should mean he has his own prejudices to get over but really all it does is make Takao rethink what he knows about Midorima.

*

The problem is, he feels safer with his prejudices, because there’s still the very simple fact that birds and mammals might not be at war with each other anymore, but they certainly didn’t date.

*

*

Midorima knew that he ran the risk of his family’s disapproval when he chose to attend a primarily human high school instead of another wolf-shifter dominant school like Teiko had been, but he hadn’t expected the main opposition to be from his little sister.

“Nii-san,” Naoko says one day after he comes home from practice, “I heard that Shutoku was a human school. That’s not true, is it?”

“There are other shifters,” Midorima says, keeping his voice mild, “but it is primarily human-dominated, yes.”

“But Nii-san,” Naoko says, her voice warbling, clearly not expecting him to confirm such a thing. “How are you going to find your mate?”

He looks down at her. “Pardon?”

“Your mate!” Naoko insists. “Most people find their mates in high school, how are you going to find yours?”

Midorima is a little confused as to why this is so concerning to his sister, which must be the reason why he says without thinking, “My mate doesn’t necessarily have to be another wolf-shifter.”

“What?” she exclaims. “You would marry a human?”

“Absolutely not,” Midorima says firmly, since he hadn’t been thinking about a human at all. “My mate just… doesn’t have to be a wolf.” He’s not sure why he keeps saying that.

“But wouldn’t that be lonely?” Naoko exclaims. “Wouldn’t it be sad if you never ever got to hunt with your mate?”

Midorima gives his little sister his most disdainful expression. “How often do you think I go hunting in the streets of Tokyo? For that matter, how often do you go hunting?”

“You know what I mean,” Naoko says, looking slightly abashed.

“No, I really don’t,” Midorima says.

Naoko scrunches up her nose and then says solemnly, “The bond of the wild is something that can only be experienced by someone else who shares your second soul.”

Then, it clicks. “Are you reading those torrid romance novels again?”

“No,” she says, far too quickly.

“You know Father said those were too mature for someone your age, and also they were trash–”

“They’re not trash!” she says hotly. Then quickly adds, “Not that I read them. Because I don’t. But they’re not trash. And anyway, it just seems like people who marry other wolves have happier relationships.”

“They have longer relationships,” Midorima says, his voice clipped. “They don’t necessarily have happier ones.”

Naoko tilts her head, looking genuinely perplexed for the first time in this conversation. “What do you mean?”

He wonders how old he was, when he first realized that the whole tradition of ‘wolves mating for life’ did not necessarily mean happily ever after. The fact that a lot of wolf shapeshifters were trapped in unhappy marriages is harsh reality for their kind and not something openly discussed. Midorima thinks he was probably younger than Naoko is now when he started to realize that. It was in Teiko, at any rate, when he learned that just because people shapeshifted into the same animal as you did not necessarily mean they were easier to get along with, or that they would automatically enjoy your company.

All of this is something he feels like he can’t explain to his little sister, so he just says, “At any rate, I have no immediate plans for marriage at this time, and I am not looking for a mate.”

Naoko does not look satisfied with this dismissal. “If you were going to find a different shapeshifter mate, what kind would you look for? A large cat?”

“Of course not,” Midorima says. The only large cat shifter he knows is the one in Seirin, and Kagami had definitely not left a favorable impression.

“A dog? Because wolves and dogs are almost always doomed–”

“No, not a dog. I don’t know any dogs,” Midorima says, wondering how he can stop this conversation.

“Well, that doesn’t leave a whole lot of options, unless you mean a bird shifter, but those are fairly rare, and anyway, bird shifters are kind of weird, don’t you think?”

“Yes, they are,” Midorima says absently, thinking that’s a pretty good description of Takao. He misses the gleam in Naoko’s eyes.

“So it is a bird shifter,” she says, sounding triumphant.

“What? No, don’t be absurd. Desist from this ridiculous topic right now, Naoko.”

*

*

“I have decided that it is alright if my brother doesn’t marry another Wolf shifter,” Naoko announces, in a way that she personally feels is a generous concession.

Ayumi looks at her, singularly unimpressed. “That’s a vast cry from ‘the bond of the wild is something that can only be experienced by someone else who shares your second soul.’ What made you change your mind?”

“I _didn’t_ change my mind,” Naoko insists. They had argued about this rather extensively. All things considered, they shouldn’t even be friends. Naoko usually liked to stick with the other Wolf shifters in her class. But she’d bonded with Ayumi because they both read the _Wild Hearts_ series, despite the fact that the contents were… slightly mature… for their age, and their parents (and teachers) would be very disapproving if they were caught with the books.

Naoko’s all time favorite book was _Wild Bond_ , because it was just the most romantic book ever about two wolves from different packs who fall in love. Ayumi’s favorite book was _Wild Flight_ , which was about a hawk shifter and a panther shifter, and all around, was a vastly inferior book to Wild Bond. Thus, the arguments.

“I still think wolves should mate with other wolves. I’ve just decided it’s OK if my brother mates with a non-wolf. He seemed like he had someone in mind.”

“A human?” Ayumi says, scandalized. It was Ayumi who had told Naoko that Shutoku was a primarily human school, which she knew because her brother also went to Shutoku.

“No, probably a hawk,” Naoko admits, “although I’m just guessing.”

“That’s not possible, my brother said he’s the only hawk-shifter at Shutoku, so unless your brother is going to mate with my brother, he must have–” Ayumi cuts off abruptly, and they both share a look of moderate horror, as they think about the implications there.

“He probably meant a different kind of shifter,” Naoko says quickly.

“Good, because my brother is too good for your brother!”

“You don’t even know my brother! Your brother would be lucky to mate with my brother!”

“Who wants to date with a stupid wolf!”

“Better than a brainless bird!”

Ayumi sticks out her tongue, causing Naoko to gasp and storm away. This is clearly what you get for talking to birds.


	4. Kise and Kasamatsu

Kise chose Kaijou deliberately: he wanted to go to another Wolf school.

He hadn’t thought it would matter, when he first went to Teiko. Despite the fact that he was a Wolf shifter, he never considered himself much of a _joiner._

But Teiko, when all was said and done, was the first time Kise ever felt like he _belonged_ somewhere. It was the first time he’d ever been around other people and thought, “Yes. These guys are like me.”

And despite all the reasons Akashi gave for why it would be good to separate and face off against each other, Kise couldn’t help but privately feel like it was the wrong idea.

“A pack of alphas is not a pack,” Akashi had said.

_That_ was the big problem. They were all too dominant in nature to really function as a pack for an extended period of time. But still. They were the first pack had ever had, and he wasn’t so thrilled at the idea of losing that.

Which is probably why he tried to convince Kuroko to transfer to Kaijo. Not that it did him any good. Kuroko might not have been a dominant wolf, but he’d never been a particularly _submissive_ one either. In fact, Kuroko rather notoriously never did anything he was ordered to do.

*

But Kaijou, Kaijou wasn’t like Teiko at all. For one thing, there was the proper ratio of alphas and betas, and that it and of itself meant it was a completely different dynamic.

In Teiko, there was one rule: the strong led. Confronted with a basketball team made almost entirely of alpha werewolves, Akashi was the leader by the sheer immensity of his strength.

But with Kaijou, it takes Kise three seconds to ascertain he’s the strongest Wolf in the room. By all accounts, this meant he should lead.

He didn’t quite know what to do with a Wolf like Kasamatsu.

*

When Kasamatsu kicks him to the ground on their first meeting, Kise can’t believe what’s happening. “Do you really think you’re better than me just because you were born a couple years before me?” he asks, incredulously. “I’m a better player than you and I’m _definitely_ the stronger alpha.”

He can sense it too; Kasamatsu’s wolf is not as strong as his. If they went head to head it’s no question who would win.

“What kind of messed up pack did you come from?” Kasamatsu growls. “It’s not about being older or stronger. It’s about _devotion_. You want to be alpha? Prove you can take care of this team. A strong alpha isn’t someone who can win every fight; it’s someone who can be strong for _his pack._ Until you learn that, First Year, you won’t be able to lead shit.”

It was really only sheer disbelief that kept Kise from retaliating.

The guy was clearly nuts. What good was an alpha who didn’t win every fight?

*

Kasamatsu Yukio isn’t the strongest wolf in the Kanagawa Prefecture, and he’s definitely not the strongest shifter in the league. But watching him play on even footing with shifters who are stronger and better players starts to put things in perspective.

Because Kasamatsu _isn’t_ the strongest alpha, but he’s definitely one of the most respected. Kise’s seen alphas from all over Japan—even alphas that could rival the Generation of Miracles in strength—bow to Kasamatsu in respect.

It’s…confusing.

*

“Do you think I’m mad at you?” Kasamatsu asks when Kise apologizes after the loss to Touou.

Kise’s been waiting for the punishment for days now. He’s sure the only reason Coach hasn’t done anything is because he’s delegated that task to Kasamatsu.

“It was my fault,” Kise says, “I should have—”

“Don’t worry about it, brat,” Kasamatsu says, clapping Kise on the shoulder. “That’s _my_ job. The Ace’s job is to lead the team to victory; the Captain shoulders the responsibility of loss.”

And Kise had never had an alpha who would do that for him before.

That’s when he gets it. The kind of alpha Kasamatsu is, and the kind of strength he has.

Kise’s not sure if he could ever be a leader like Kasamatsu, but he’s sure he’ll follow this man anywhere.

*

*

“I never thought to see _you_ roll on your belly for anyone like some kind of _beta_ , Ryouta,” Haizaki sneers. And he’s trying to make Kise flinch, try to make him feel ashamed for bowing to another alpha (and not even a particular strong alpha; Kise knows what Haizaki must see when he looks at Kasamatsu: he’s just like Kise was, when he first came to Kaijou—seeing only the surface and not the leader.)

Haizaki says it like it’s dirty, and among certain alphas (the Teiko alphas, Kise thinks, the Wolves who were taught that only strength was important) it _is_ one of the most shameful things you can imply. _What kind of alpha submits?_

“Never thought I’d see it,” Haizaki says again. “You’re like some kind of Dog. Practically wagging your tail when he whistles.”

The old Kise would have challenged him to a fight right then and there.

Of course, the old Kise also would have lost.

*

There are things that Kise can’t quite explain, not to anyone in Teiko.

(Kuroko, maybe. Maybe Kuroko would have understood. But Kuroko left them all behind for a reason so it’s not like Kise can ask him if this was why).

Like the way he overhears Kasamatsu tell the Touou alpha, “You don’t get it, do you? Copying just means he’s still learning.”

Because no one had ever phrased it quite like that before—made it sound like the potential was more impressive than what he could do. Made it sound like he _had_ potential.

*

Or the way he could smell the tears on Kasamatsu after the Touou game. It infuriates him that Moriyama (a _beta_ ) had stopped him from going to Kasamatsu but later he gets it. This is what an alpha does. This is what Kasamatsu meant when he said it was his job to shoulder the burden. Alphas take on the burden and they suffer alone and that’s what it means to lead.

*

Or the way Kasamatsu only ever kicks the stronger alphas around, and only if he’s sure they’re OK with it. Kise absurdly likes the bullying—even occasionally feels jealous when Kasamatsu bullies others—because it’s lighthearted and _never_ mean-spirited. Kasamatsu does not use his strength to hurt others. Ever.

*

_Yeah, I follow him,_ Kise wants to say, but Haizaki would never understand. _And I’m a stronger alpha because of it._

“We’ll see on the court, Haizaki,” Kise says, because that’s where he’s going to prove it—that’s where he’ll show everyone what kind of alpha he is now.

*

And later, after the win, he wishes he could lay this victory at Kasamatsu’s feet. Some primal urge of his wants to display his kill and offer it to his alpha the way that wolves do in the wild.

_I did this for you_ , he wants to say, but it’s one of those things he can’t say out loud. Not because Kasamatsu wouldn’t understand, but because he’s too much of a coward.

“Good job, Ace,” Kasamatsu says.

“This is—this is because of you,” Kise blurts out, and then he’s horrified and has to backtrack, “Because of your leadership. You’re a good captain.” And he has to stop before he embarrasses himself even further. He looks down, because he doesn’t want Kasamatsu to see the expression on his face.

He hears Kasamatsu clear his throat. “You know, in _real_ packs, there are usually two alphas working together.”

Kise whips his head up so fast he thinks he’s strained something but he’s already missed it—Kasamatsu is walking towards the lockers.

The tips of his ears are red, making Kise think maybe he hadn’t misunderstood something after all.


	5. Akashi and Furihata

Furihata Kouki had grown up hearing stories about how wolf shifters can know their mate just by their scent.

“When I met your father the first time, his smell was so amazing,” his mother would tell him, time and time again. “The most amazing thing I had ever smelled in my life and I just _knew_ he was going to be my mate.”

Other shifters tended to make fun of wolves because this—Love at First Smell, they’d mock—but Furihata thought this was the most romantic thing he’d ever heard, and he’d known all his life that this was how he wanted to meet his mate.

*

He’d been waiting for it all his life, so when it finally happens he knows exactly what’s going on, but instead of being thrilled he’s _terrified._

Because he’s already scared out of his mind—all these dominate alpha wolves in one place, it’s enough to scare _anyone._ He has never been around so many alphas before, and he has no idea how Kuroko could have stood it for three years. But then _Akashi Seijuurou_ walks up and he is simultaneously the most terrifying shifter Furihata has ever met and also _he smells really good._

He’s frozen in place, even when Akashi orders him to leave—part in terror, part in confusion—completely unable to comprehend what is happening right now.

There’s no question it’s Akashi (not that one of the _other_ Generation of Miracles would have been better) because Furihata didn’t smell anything unusual until the red haired boy approached.

When Kagami interrupts it’s a relief, for many reasons. Mainly, because it gives Furihata the opportunity to concentrate on something other than the fact that _Akashi Seijuurou_ is apparently his mate.

*

Which is absurd. Once he’s far away again he knows it’s absurd. Alpha wolves marry other alpha wolves, that was just nature. Betas marry other betas. There is no way Akashi is his mate, it just wouldn’t _make sense._

And yes, alright, _some_ weaker alphas had been known to mate with stronger betas—it’s not outside the realm of possibility.

But Akashi is not a weaker alpha.

And Furihata is definitely not a strong beta.

So clearly he must have got it wrong. It must have been a fear-driven hallucination.

*

Except during the Rakuzan game, the scent is still there, stronger than ever. _Mate, mine._ It’s distracting, and confusing, and also painful because Akashi keeps looking at him like he’s the weakest scum he’s ever seen.

He’s glad when they win, but he still can’t help but feel like this _should_ be the best day of his life, only everything is all wrong.

*

He vows not to think about it. He _must_ have got it wrong somewhere. It’s just too absurd. There’s no way on this _earth_ the most dominate wolf shifter in Japan is _his_ mate.

Still. _Can_ he be wrong? Is it possible?  
“Kuroko,” he asks in desperation. Kuroko is the only other wolf shifter on the Seirin team. “You know how you’re just supposed to smell another wolf and _know_ they’re your mate?”

“Yes,” Kuroko say warily.

“Well—well, do you ever think it can be _wrong?_ ”

“I don’t know,” Kuroko says, after a long pause. “I have never felt that way about another wolf.”

Kuroko’s eyes flick to Kagami and back, so quickly it might not have happened at all. But it’s enough to make Furihata think Kuroko is probably not going to have any advice on the unsuitable mate situation.

*

*

Akashi had been raised on the core belief that strength above all is what made a successful pack, and it was a belief that was only ever reaffirmed by the temporary pack he had built in Teiko.

Of course, he completely understood even then that a pack could not thrive if it consisted of too many alphas. He knew that too many alphas meant there would always be tension and battles for power. Betas were a necessary component in a pack because they kept things peaceful, and also looked after children. (Kuroko, in Akashi’s mind, was the perfect example of how a beta wolf could assist a pack without having any real strength or power).

The fact that they would never make it as a real pack when all of them were alphas was just one of the reasons Akashi made sure they all went to different high schools. All of them were too headstrong, meant to lead packs of their own, not work together with one another.

When it’s time for Akashi to create his own pack, he wants it to be as strong and cohesive as possible, which means the only other alpha who will be in his pack will be his mate.

*

The alpha pair is an important part to any pack, and it’s something Akashi has put a lot of though into. Whoever his mate will be it must be an alpha wolf of incredible strength. Someone who can match him, someone who holds his ideals and is one mind on him with everything. A partner whose strength will support him, and who will always ensure victory in all things.

Akashi has met a lot of alphas—some of the strongest alphas in Japan were with him in Teiko—but no one had quite matched his perfect ideal for his alpha mate.

It is, all around, very alarming when he meets Furihata Kouki.

*

He had, of course, heard the stories about how you could find your mate solely off of how appealing their scent was, but he had never put any kind of consideration into that idea. He has very exacting qualifications for his mate, and _scent_ is not one of them.

It was not a conscious decision, but he had somewhat come to the conclusion that even _if_ he found that “appealing scent” he would ignore it, unless that wolf met his other demanding criteria.

So when a beta wolf, not even a particularly strong beta wolf—but an incredibly ordinary, clearly submissive, easily frightened beta wolf—appears before him as the most amazing thing he has ever smelled, he is privately very alarmed, disappointed, and determined that this changes absolutely nothing. There is no reason at all why he should even acknowledge the other wolf’s existence. He will just carry on as if there was nothing unusual about him. This is, he is sure, the best solution.

He is not quite prepared for how difficult it is to ignore the scent, or his own response (and unexpectedly intense longing) to make that scent _his._

*

*

“You must be Furihata-kun,” Akashi says, smiling slightly at the sight of who opened the door. The boy on the other side of the door looks ready to pass out, and eventually he does fall on the ground in terror.

Akashi stifles a sigh. “Murasakibara, could you pick him up?”

*

Akashi did not want to see him again. The scent is still there, just as desirable as it was before. But he is still very much just a beta wolf; not fit to lead, not fit for anything but following orders. And that is not someone Akashi wants to lead a pack with. (That is certainly not someone he wants to spend his _life_ with. He does not care how appealing the scent is).

Kuroko had said that his team was throwing him a party when he extended the invitation to go back to Kagami’s apartment. And the first thing Akashi had thought about was _this_ wolf, and how very likely he would be there, and he’d meant to say, “I am sorry, I really must return to my team now,” he somehow ended up saying, “That would be lovely, thank you, Kuroko.”

He tells himself that it’s Kuroko’s birthday, and really the only polite thing to do is celebrate Kuroko’s birthday. He tells himself that he doesn’t actually have to talk to the boy.

*

“Wo-would you like some more tea?” Furihata asks, and it’s clear that he’s nervous, maybe even frightened. Which is the normal response when faced with a wolf so very much stronger than himself, but it irritates Akashi anyway.

“Yes, thank you.” He’s not sure how they ended up next to each other. He’s doesn’t want to talk to him and he doesn’t know what he’s supposed to say. Conversing should not be this difficult.

“Did you have fun playing with your old pack?” Furihata asks as he pours the tea.

“I did,” Akashi says shortly. And the answer somewhat stops the conversation entirely and Akashi knows that it’s entirely his fault because at least Furihata was _trying_ to make small talk. He clears his throat and starts again, “It was fun to play in a series of low-stakes games. We have not played that way in a very long time.” Ever, perhaps. The games they played in Teiko were never about fun.

“It’s important for a pack to have fun,” Furihata says agreeably. “I think that’s why I like Seirin so much. It’s fun even when it’s a lot of work.”

It is on the tip of his tongue to say, _Seirin in not a pack_ , because they aren’t wolves and some of them aren’t even shifters and Akashi was raised with very traditional values about what makes a pack. But he reminds himself in time that Seirin _did_ beat his team in the Winter Cup, so it is not his place to quibble. “I have never thought that to be a particularly important aspect of pack dynamics.”

Furihata frowns at this response. “But how else would you make sure your pack got along?”

Akashi pauses, not sure of the answer.

“Even real wolves play together,” Furihata points out.

“Yes,” Akashi says, making sure his uncertainty was not in his voice, “I suppose that is true.”

It’s been a problem ever since their loss to Seirin… wondering just how much he had been wrong about things. Maybe there were other ways of running a pack that could still be victorious. He now studies the other wolf in a new light, and wonders if maybe he’d been wrong about this as well.

“Furihata, would you like to play basketball with me at some point?”  
He is slightly appalled that he made the offer, and feels a brief flash of relief when Furihata replies, “Oh! Thank you, but no, that’s probably not a good idea. I mean, I’m nowhere near your level, so I can’t imagine it would be worth it for either of us.” Furihata laughs in a self-deprecating way and Akashi doesn’t press the issue.

*  
Only later, does it occur to him that if _he_ finds Furihata’s scent appealing, then surely it must go both ways, and surely Furihata _also_ knows there’s a weird…thing…between them.

And then he finds that implications of Furihata’s rejection of his request very… _distressing._

*

*

When about 60% of the population is a shapeshifter of some kind, it’s an absolute necessity to have enough land to run free in animal form. That can be difficult, in big cities like Tokyo, and for the most part, Furihata doesn’t mind being a city-wolf; he’s never known anything different. 

But he _is_ a wolf, and that does mean that he likes to stretch out his legs sometimes and go on a run, and usually it’s enough just to run around school grounds, or parks if he’s feeling really restless. It’s all very domesticated, but it’s the twenty-first century, shapeshifters _are_ domesticated.

The school trip gives him the opportunity to actually go running in a forest, and he can’t pass up the opportunity. Because he is a pack animal, he says, “Kuroko? Kagami? Do you want to go on a run?” But his fellow first-year shifters seem content to stay behind; Kagami is in tiger form and sprawled on Kuroko’s lap, pinning him down.

So Furihata goes on his run. He can smell other animals out there in the woods, but there’s an unspoken code when you’re in your beast form. Mostly, _unless invited, leave alone._ Furihata thinks he even smells other wolves, and he feels a momentarily pang at not being able to join them. But _that_ would be especially foolish. Wolves cared more about territory than other shifters, and Furihata definitely does not want to risk being perceived as any kind of challenger.

He stops almost immediately when he catches the scent, _the_ scent, convinced that he must be hallucinating. But seconds later, _he_ is in sight, watching Furihata intently.

Furihata has never seen Akashi Seijuurou in his wolf form, but he heard from Kagami that Akashi’s wolf was an albino. That seemed _impossible—_ Furihata had looked it up. Having an albino second form was exceedingly rare, and all known cases were outliers, usually shunned by everyone.

And there is something undeniably _other_ about Akashi’s wolf form. It’s not just his white fur or his red eyes—there’s something that scares the other animals, shifters and creatures alike. Everyone is giving the white wolf a _wide_ berth, some even turn in the other direction and run away. 

Not in a _shunning_ sort of way—more like there is the instant recognition of an ultimate predator which causes even the strongest of alpha shifters to bow down. 

Furihata, who has never been any kind of alpha, whose natural instinct is to lie down and expose his throat to anyone stronger, finds that he’s frozen in his tracks. 

His wolf _should_ be bowing down, his wolf should look at this strange white wolf and be afraid. But instead of thinking, _predator,_ all Furihata’s wolf can think is _mine_.

And before Furihata really knows what’s happening, he’s crouched in a position that’s a clear invitation to _play,_ which is very insulting when faced with a stronger wolf. Akashi would be within rights to bite Furihata in punishment, but then Akashi responds in kind, and they take off running. For the first time, now that they’re wolves, all of Furihata’s very intelligent reasons for staying away from Akashi don’t mean anything.

*

*

After that strange night where he went running with Akashi, Furihata feels like he’s not entirely sure what reality he’s living in. Because running with Akashi in wolf form made everything seem possible, and that everything is changed, except he wakes up the next morning and it’s still the same situation he was in before. He’s still just a beta wolf and Akashi is still the most alpha of alpha wolves and nothing is ever going to happen between them.

Furihata resolves not to make a big deal about this– except then his phone rings and he vaguely remembers exchanging phone numbers with Akashi and it freaks him out so badly that he answers and promptly hangs up. Then spends about two hours burying his head under his pillow, trying to suffocate himself, agonizing over why he did such a stupid, stupid thing.

He figures that he needs to talk to someone about this. Probably the logical person to talk to is Kuroko, who is the only other wolf shifter at Seirin and he knows Akashi, but Furihata immediately shies away from the thought. (It all might seem a little too real to discuss this with another wolf).

So instead he talks to Fukuda, who is human, and Kawahara, who is a dog shifter, and tries to get their advice on a situation that Furihata is determined not to give too much context for.

“So,” Furihata says, clearing his throat, “so remember our class trip? I, uhh, went running with someone.”

“Whoa, Furi, you animal,” Kawahara hoots. “Details!”

Furihata blinks. “Uhh, does ‘going running’ mean something different to dog shifters?”

“What? No,” Kawahara says, looking as confused as Furihata feels. “I was assuming you meant, like, euphemistically.”

“No!” Furihata says, blushing, “I meant running! We went running!”

“Uh,” Kawahara scrunches up his nose, “does that mean something to wolves that it doesn’t mean to other people? Because otherwise I’m confused about what the big deal is.”

“I mean, no, but it was like, kind of a date?” Furihata squirms, and thinks probably he should have talked to another wolf after all. “Wouldn’t that be special if you went– running– with someone?”

“No?” Kawahara says. “I go running all the time with people. When I’m a dog, I mean. Fukuda?”

“I am fairly certain I am not qualified to have any say in this conversation,” Fukuda says. “The only time I go running with other people is with you guys, during basketball practice.”

“Well–” Furihata starts, and then wonders if maybe it was like basketball practice. Maybe he’s making a big deal out of this for no reason. “It was nice. And, like, maybe I would want to do it again some time.”

“Go running,” Fukuda says, helpfully.

“Right. Only, like, probably I should be dating this person, so, that makes things difficult.”

“Is this another weird wolf thing?” Kawahara says. “Dogs date just about anyone, so I feel the need to clarify.”

“I mean, kinda?” Furihata says. Then, as an afterthought, he adds, “You’re lucky. That sounds really nice.” Because dogs really do have it lucky, if they don’t have to worry about all the social complications that other shifters do when it comes to dating. Pretty much every other shifter, there’s a lot of rules about who you can and cannot date.

“Why can’t you?” Fukuda says.

“What?” Furihata says.

“Why make it so complicated? Why can’t you just date whoever? Seems dumb,” Fukuda says.

“It’s not–the complications are just there,” Furihata says, regretting this conversation.

“I know I’m just a human, but if you can’t go running with someone without it being complicated, then it’s dumb, and probably more complicated than it needs to be,” Fukuda says.

Furihata isn’t quite sure what to say to that, except that it definitely is more complicated than it needs to be.

When he comes home, he has another missed call from Akashi.

*

*

Akashi throws his phone on his bed in disgust, and starts pacing the room. He always thought he had more pride than this.

By rights, after the first two times Furihata didn’t answer his phone, Akashi should have given up. He definitely should not still be _trying to call_. He’s Akashi Seijuurou, he’s not going to chase after a romantic partner. And a _beta wolf_ no less. It is insulting, for one thing. Any one– especially any wolf– should feel fortunate to be noticed by him. If Furihata isn’t interested, then Akashi should just give up, and be thankful to all his ancestors and the heavens that he isn’t attaching himself to an unsuitable romantic interest.

But that’s not what’s happening. What’s happening is that Akashi’s wolf wants to travel to Tokyo and _insist_ that Furihata pay attention to him.

They’d gone running together. They had… fun. The entire time, it felt _right,_ in a way that very few things had ever felt right.

This is stupid. This is _so stupid_. He is going to forget Furihata. Akashi is not going to make a fool out of himself for a beta who, really, has no redeeming qualities whatsoever as a romantic partner. If Furihata does not have the sense to be thankful for Akashi’s interest, then he is not worth Akashi’s time. Akashi is definitely not going to Tokyo.

*

He goes to Tokyo.

“Akashi?” Furihata exclaims, flailing and falling down. Akashi’s eyebrow twitches, because really, they should be past this already.

“Hello Furihata,” Akashi says, offering up a hand to help the other wolf up. Furihata blushes slightly, (and Akashi is a little appalled at how much he likes that), but accepts Akashi’s help. He lets go of Akashi’s hand far quicker than Akashi would like.

“What uh, what are you doing in Tokyo? Are you here to see Kuroko?”

“No. I am not,” Akashi says, and he knows he sounds cold. But really. He should leave it alone, but all common sense abandons him, and he says, “Furihata, it is pointless to pretend we both don’t know what is happening. By the laws of our kind, you are my mate and it’s stupid to not talk about that.”

Furihata swallows. “That’s– it just doesn’t seem like there’s much to talk about.”

Akashi glares at him. “Don’t be stupid. Look, it is an unfortunate situation all around. Alphas and betas are deeply incompatible for pack hierarchy. But if I can overlook this, I don’t see why _you_ can’t.”

“Overlook this,” Furihata repeats.

“It is a much more advantageous relationship for you, after all. I would be giving up much more.”

The silence stretches on, and Akashi finds that he has no idea what that look on Furihata’s face is. Finally, Furihata says, “Well. I, personally, was always hoping to find a mate who wouldn’t have to overlook so much to be with me. That seems like a pretty big thing to give up. And I’m not going to. Thank you, Akashi. I am sure you will find someone more advantageous to you soon.”

Akashi opens his mouth to say, _Don’t be absurd,_ but Furihata drops his school bag, shifts into a wolf, and runs away.

Which is foolish, really, since Akashi is much faster than him and could surely catch him. Very easily.

Akashi doesn’t move. He feels a little bit like he’s been hit by a bus.

*

*

Furihata always assumed that the first time he ever received a love confession would be a joyous day. 

Even if he didn’t reciprocate the feelings of this hypothetical confessor, it still seemed so lovely to think that someone, anyone, would think _he_ , Furihata Kouki, was someone they loved and admired. And, of course, if this was someone Furihata wanted to date, then obviously he would be over the moon to hear them confess their love.

Never did he think he would feel so much shame, so much humiliation, after the first time someone confessed their love. He didn’t think it was possible to receive a love confession, and somehow feel worse about himself and his desirability as a potential mate. 

But then– Akashi hadn’t exactly confessed his love, had he? _By the laws of our kind, you are my mate and it’s stupid not to talk about that._

Furihata had also assumed that on the day he received his first love confession, he’d want to tell everyone. He’s always been the kind of person who likes sharing good news. He’s sure he'd want to tell his parents, his older brother, all his friends, old grannies at the grocery store, anyone and everyone, that there was someone who loved Furihata. 

Except it’s all just so awful and the worst part of it is that he can’t tell anyone about it. For one, who would believe him? And any wolf shifter would probably think he was crazy for running away from Akashi Seijuurou. And any non-wolf shifter wouldn’t understand what the problem is. 

_If I can overlook this, I don’t see why you can’t._

But this is the kind of secret you can’t just carry inside. It’s so delicate and awful it’s like a bomb– if he doesn’t handle it carefully it’s going to explode his soul. If he tries to carry it with him, he’s just going to trip over himself and it will destroy everything.

After weighing the pros and cons about the available people he can talk to, he reluctantly comes to accept that there’s really only one person who would know exactly what the problem is who is also trustworthy enough not to gossip about it.

*

He tells Kuroko while they serve on the library committee together, since that’s the only time he can talk to Kuroko alone, without Kagami hovering nearby. After debating many ways to broach the subject, he just blurts out, “Akashi Seijuurou asked me out. Sort of.”

It must be useful sometimes not to show many expressions, since Kuroko handles this shocking news with more grace than Furihata would, if their positions were reversed.

“That is.. unexpected.”

“Yeah,” Furihata says. “He was kind of a dick about it, though.”

“That is less unexpected." 

Despite the situation, Furihata snorts out a laugh, that turns into a groan as he hides his face in his hands.

"Is this what you were referring to when you were asking about the mate scent?” Kuroko asks.

“Wow, Kuroko,” Furihata says, lifting his head to look at Kuroko, deeply impressed. “I’m surprised you remember that. Yeah. He– smells like my mate. Which doesn’t make any sense.”

“Do you like him?” Kuroko asks.

“I don’t even know him,” Furihata says. “And, well, considering what he said, no. I don’t really like him all that much at the moment.”

Kuroko doesn’t pry. “Then, I don’t think anything else matters.”

“What? Really? But– everyone knows mate scent–”

“It is stupid. Only wolf shifters put so much emphasis on how one chooses a mate. We are not animals. Whether or not we like a person is more important than if we like their scent.”

Furihata is all too aware that Kuroko and Kagami’s relationship status has changed recently, since their scents are all over each other. And if a wolf and a tiger can make it work, then anyone can. 

“Yes. You’re right. I thought it would be romantic, the mate scent thing. But it’s more romantic for someone to love you for who you are, and not how you smell.” Furihata knows this is true. That’s why he ran away from Akashi. He knows he did the right thing. Maybe he never will find someone who loves him for who he is, but that doesn’t mean he should stop looking. 

If it feels like he lost something important, that’s no one’s business but his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Akashi and Furihata arc is still unfinished, they will have a happy ending!
> 
> Also, just to be clear, "alpha" and "beta" are being used here in the wolf pact hierarchy sense, noooooot in any other sense. =D

**Author's Note:**

> New shorts and other tumblr fic (and lots of anime reblogs) appear on my tumblr, umisabaku.tumblr.com.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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